Rating Curve

appaulling

There are people who don't like this level, and there are people who know how to have fun. Like genuinely if you don't find this fun then I think you have the wrong mentality when it comes to playing. Try syncing your clicks and movements with the music. Try learning how to avoid bugs. Try playing.

Aside from that the music sync is also on point and the some of the gameplay is super creative and everything is iconic. Even the bugs are iconic. This is something you can instantly recognize from a zoomed in screenshot of a couple spikes. This level is one of those that really "owns" its song because nothing else could ever use this in the same way.

Also this level helped spark a lot of drama that is depressing but also fascinating and also TriAxis is JUST LIKE ME FR!!!!

Fucking SLOOM???

The Sloom Monster is iconic. It's become a symbol for the impossible levels community as a whole. Everybody loves this thing, and how could you not? It's simple, recognizeable, and has goofy ear flaps like a dog. What I think is especially noteworthy for the level itself though, is that it helps set the tone for the rest of the level. This is a rather "playful" level, and it feels much more authentic than many others that try doing the same, with the player dancing up and down and doing wide jumps. It's the difference between someone who age regresses and someone who's actually 10 years old, if that makes sense.

Also some of the designs in Knali's part are genuinely just cool. Simple yet interesting.

knali please give apotheosis copy

The last [FIT1], at least the last one that's labeled as such on the list. It's pretty good. I think the ball part subconsciously implanted the 90 degree rotated spikes on 2 block slopes idea into my mind that I've been using ever since (misanthrope is probably responsible for a bunch of that too though). The cube is iconic too of course. I like the transition into the first wave, it syncs kinda unusually well for how basic it is. The waves themselves capture the song really well too. High speed, spammy, intense, a lot of speed changes, but also not expecting you to take them super seriously if that makes sense. Also the portal staircase is peak.

As for Renn's version, I'd rate it about the same. The main thing I'm here for is the gameplay so some extra effects don't change my opinion too much.

I'm 100% being serious when I tell you this is on par with the original. Acropolis' appeal is that its gameplay is brutal, claustrophobic, and unforgiving, and this increases those qualities tenfold.

Absurd timings. Microclicks have their head-bump leniency removed. Jump rings are now spam. Downright stupid straight fly galore. Insane dual release timing. UFO has pink orbs that make your jumps pathetic. Oh and who could forget the former top 1 challenge at the end. Play this in practice if you haven't already.

Do I even need to say anything?

Every part of this is iconic and memorable and a core part of the game's history, literally down to the scale of individual clicks. There are very few levels that can make any of these claims, especially the last one.

A product of its time both for better and worse. The first ball is still crazy good despite being so short. As levels have transitioned to having more precise sync we've all collectively agreed to make the player hit portals at the same spot every time, but there's also definitely something that was lost with that. I like the way the lights flicker on and off throughout the predrop. The proto-icedcave monster is fucking legendary (not as good as its evolution though). The designs throughout are surprisingly good especially for Cyrillic standards however they kind of fall apart at the 1st drop wave and ufo due to the colors. Y'know how the Albanian flag violates the rule of tincture? Yeah that's what it reminds me of. The mazes themselves are boring and it's pretty annoying that the level ends so soon (surely you could've put the unused gameplay in there somewhere?) but I love the border designs on the maze entrances/exits, especially with how the cube portal gets highlighted.

I don't like Bloody Ruby. It's ugly, uncreative, uninteresting, and unsynced (koopi what is your problem). Thankfully, this level is pretty, creative, and interesting (NOTE: STILL NOT SYNCED).

This is very transformative, for lack of a better term. It's a remake, but it's also something completely different and basically unrelated (though not simply the opposite), and also a lot better.

It's a burning city/building at night, not a cavern anymore. There's an added sense of progression as the level slowly heats up before bursting into flames at the 1st wave and turning into smoke during the 2nd, with the sun eventually peeking out from behind the rubble at the 3rd. It's a shame this isn't really done in tandem with the song's own progression because it would've been sick if it did.

Aside from the main theme of the level, there a number of smaller changes I really like. The first ship gets changed from typical straight fly to this sort of weaving pattern akin to that of the Silent Clubstep drop. Instead of being Cataclysm ripoff #1 out of 3, the first wave is a crazy high-speed spam and memory combo with the great little detail of breaking open the walls almost like a firefighter would. The break cube flips the Necropolis ceiling gimmick on its head (no pun intended) by making the player hit H blocks. Great level though it could've been better.

The guy who made this doesn't even deserve to have his channel linked

As you go back in time you find that a lot of older "old style" levels are mainly just old style because the creator doesn't know how to make interesting deco and needs an excuse. Gameplay is occasionally cool but a lot of it is just invisible straight fly

Created by Makise Kurisu's memories uploaded into a phone

Surprisingly, I don't hate this, never really have. It's got some good sync, especially in regards to capturing changes in intensity. Also pretty fun for practice runs, at least when the screen isn't black. Probably for the best that this is so short though because it is a bit repetitive

Take everything in my KoM review and remove or at least heavily tone down any phrases regarding personal attachment and that's how I feel about this level